Managing Change Enquiry and Action

Our argument in this book is that much of the time in organizations we are managing change through the deliberate selection of practices that we hope will produce particular results. The triggers for such change work may emanate from within the organization or from shifts in the external environment. They may be optional or unavoidable, and they may be rapid and radical or slow and evolutionary. There are many tools and techniques that pertain to change situations, but choosing what to do, and how to do it, is not straightforward. In this book we elaborate a framework that does not dictate a prescribed path to managing change but treats the process as one of enquiry and action. This entails being skilled at asking searching questions so that the circumstances and purpose can be understood and matched to action. Action in this field is normally somewhat experimental, as even the most popular ‘tried and tested’ practices can fail in new situations. Therefore, the approach adopted here is to build up a repertoire of options and to be active both in the selection of which action option (or combination of options) to take and in the adaptation and development of change practices. Hence, change management is regarded as being based on skills of judging situations, selecting and adapting from prior practices in order to develop new ones and subsequently being able to understand and evaluate how these actions are working and thus make appropriate adjustments. In short, the change manager is an active learner, engaged in a continuous cycle of enquiry and action.